..Thank you, I'm sorry but I don't have a gift to thank you properly..

She seemed to genuinely feel bad for not having been thoughtful enough to plan ahead for that eventuality.

Nyx remained silent until Claudia directed her attention back to her.

As much as I'd like to take credit, I was given permission to make that arrangement before hand because I was speaking to my Primogen before my Introduction. All I did was double check it was still ok.. It was his idea not mine...

"Alright, cheerio, have a good morning."William presses the hang up button on the phone and puts it back on the table with a soft thud.

Walking up once more to the group, he, flopped down on the couch and rested his arms on the back of the furniture with a sly grin. "One down, one to go I guess. So, what happens when the mortal returns unexpected for whichever reason. I presume you 'trained' him."

Claudia blinks an instant as Fred states it's a favor to be repaid. She seems surprised, especially as Nyx apologizes. She waves off William's worries.(Claudia) Loïc knows his boundaries as well as basic respect. I told you this apartment was taken with these circumstances in mind, and of course, all rooms have locks. There's no favor to repay, nor any gift to give, it's the Hospitality. Just respect my haven as well as the mortals in this house.

She lets out a slight sigh and then observes Nyx with a little more detail.(Claudia) Your clan works the closest to mine. Everyone acts, everyone shares the benefits and the losses, except we probably have more.. tension between our members than you. Your presence and your intervention certainly helped negotiations, as without it it's probable Mikael would have.. chosen a more aggressive approach.

When Claudia turns her full attention to Nyx she sits a little straighter in her seat but doesn't move further. She seems more relaxed now Claudia has stated the boundaries for staying and that it isn't an inconvenience.

..Yeah, I think that's an accurate assessment of how our Clans works.

Perception + Subterfuge >4:

Nyx seems quite surprised by Claudia's words on Mikael.

What would be the point in that? He'd be risking a lot with no guarantee he'd get the result he would want.

Claudia chuckles at Duncan's description of Tarcisus' speech, and Duncan grins back. Yeah, he went on for about fifteen minutes before Gosuin stopped him. To his credit, a lot of it matched what William found out from Vranken's notes. I'm pretty sure Gosuin guessed what was up, though.

As Claudia restates her offer of hospitality, and assures them that Loic won't be an issue, Duncan nods in acknowledgment

Thank you nonetheless. Your hospitality is appreciated. I will accept, so we can start out together instead of wasting time regrouping tomorrow night.

I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement, before M. Horsman could try an alternate method. Speaking of whom, it sounds like he's eager to find out whether your second attempt to contact your sire is successful. So if you need to go try that, we'll just wait here and discuss what we need to do tomorrow.

Eric had been quiet for most of the trip, he had arranged with the taxi company to send one to the place 30 mins before the sunrise and payed little attention to the conversation about seeing the sun once more, the sun had lost it's appeal after the years had passed. Once they arrived at Claudia's Eric looks at ArmandAre you sure you can't come?, who knows what we might find out, it may be interesting.In truth Eric wants his clanmate to stay because he is more familiar with Claudia than he is, and it would benefit to have him during the discussion, specially such a delicate discussion as this can prove to be.

OoC:

I don't know if you can arrange for a taxi to pick you up in France, if not please edit it out and sorry for the inconvenience

William takes off his glasses and polishes them with his shirt."What is there to discus, we're pretty much down to one lead on Lyle, which is Claudia here, and unless you want to Marco Polo around Bordeaux, we've got zero good places to looks for the Nossy, unless Nyx has more information. And no Nosferatu, no second bracelet. Well, outside of the sheriff's place, we could always try traffic cameras."

When William says they have no place to look for the missing Nosferatu, Duncan shakes his head. After Nyx's reply, the Brujah speaks to both of them.

We have one very good place to look for Momo -- the same place we tried to search before. We just can't do it when a certain someone is there. If his car is gone, maybe Fred and Nyx can go in and look around. Or we can call someone and verify he's at the Theatre, or wherever. The only clues we have are likely to be in that apartment building. And I think William is right; we need to find out about Momo, one way or another, before the Nosferatu will show us their unmentionables.

As for the cameras, it's not a bad idea. Not traffic cams; I didn't see any on the surrounding streets. However, if we get in maybe the building cameras will show something. We might need a flash drive to transfer data; but if our tech wizard doesn't have one, I do at my haven. Nyx, you said your ability was kind of a 'mental Photoshop', and you were worried about cameras before. Does that mean you show up on video? If so, maybe that's how they saw Momo.

Duncan turns to face Fred, who has withdrawn to a chair a little bit away from the group, and smiles at him encouragingly.Fred, can you sort of hide yourself from people's attention, like some others of your clan? If not, that's okay; I'm just wondering whether you might be able to help us look around for Nyx's clan mate. Can you do that? If we see that someone dangerous isn't there?

Perception+Empathy>4:

Duncan is obviously trying not to name the person who they want to avoid at the Europe Plaza; although this might be a moot point, since William already mentioned "the Sheriff's place."

When Mikael's possible actions are mentioned, Claudia shrugs. She smiles at Duncan for his thanks.(Claudia) It's just normal, there's no need to thank me. And Mikael... That's just how he is, sometimes even the Tremere don't weight out all the possibilities, Mikael isn't the most diplomatic of us all. I'm sure if we'd play Marco Polo around the city for the Regent we'd become ashes in no time...

Even so, the idea seems to amuse her. She observes the cross in her hand a moment, then nods.(Claudia) I can't call Mikael until 6 anyway. Ah, wait, that should be 7.. Day light savings is tonight after all. Anyway, this is a fairly short ritual, I'd rather do it just before torpor, if he is indeed in some other country.. No, William, I am sure the Nosferatu are smart enough to avoid cameras, if he'd appear in one we would have heard about it through the news. Wait, the Sheriff ?

Claudia sounds surprised about the Sheriff's name, she half frowns, thinking about the situation, and connecting a few dots. She doesn't seem to like the Malkavian much.(Claudia) If you need him out of the way for a while, ask Theo, but don't tell him why (this way the Sheriff won't find out and you'll get some extra time). However... You must be very careful as the Sheriff is a good investigator. Eventually he'll notice and find out, and you'll need a solid case and many friends to defend yourselves. If he doesn't plain hunt you down.

The Tremere moves the cross idly in her hand, slowly.(Claudia) I don't like the turn of events. We must avoid an inter-camarilla war at all costs.

Duncan:

Duncan didn't notice any traffic cameras in Bordeaux. They are very scare, and generally only to watch some historical buildings. However, bank and ATM cams.. But hacking those will be a bitch, their quality won't be much, and their location isn't optimum. The neighborhood Lambert lives in is just not important enough to have more cams. Unless there's some police hide-out somewhere watching and recording the building for some drug case... It's a long shot. Especially if the police is under the sheriff's influence !

Armand denies Eric's offer with a smile.(Armand) In a Tremere haven ? Like, an actual true Tremere ? Nope. Griffin gave me some other thing to do, he didn't say I should go, and to be honest I do not have good relations with them. My presence will certainly be suspicious. And I'm sure you will tell me all about it !

OOC Eric:

Yes it exists, but I'm sure Eric goes for a private company (maybe one he actually owns XD) rather than actual taxis, even if it's more expensive, it's far more reliable.. and less traceable.

Neve was looking at Eric as he was conversating with Armand. But she quite quickly went to the trunk, where she had an extra bag. She found out a shawl, as if she was freezing, and then she wrapped it around her shoulders - once again turning her attention to Eric Should we go in and see Claudia? Seems like Mr. Armand here has other matters to attend to.

Neve walked up to Eric and lifted her arm, invitng him to take her by the arm and accompany Neve inside. She had a flirty smile and some seductive eyes, looking directly at Eric's eyes.

She diverted her attention back to Claudia after that to listen about Mikael.

Mmmm. Sounds like he needs an advisor or something if he's gonna go head long into a situation the way you thought he would

Nyx turned her attention back to Duncan listening carefully to what he said.

Um, I hope you have a good reason for picking me and Fred to do this. I'm pretty sure Lambert can see through Obsfucate so it's not like we can hide from him if we get stuck in there.

The Nosferatu interrupted Duncan mid speaking about cameras.

Cameras are a shit idea, we're all taught to avoid them and he went up top a lot so he'd know to avoid them..

When he mentioned her analogy for her skills she smiled as though pleased he had remembered and come to the correct conclusion on his own.

Cameras, phones, TV recording equipment. Yeah, it works on bending the mind not physically changing what's there. So we are very careful nowadays because it's so easy to get caught on something. I miss the days when mobile phones were non exsistant...

When Claudia brought up the alibi issue she nodded her head in agreement.

I could get Pierre to say I was on a clean up job with a clan mate but that won't cover anyone else. We'd have to avoid him for ages, I doubt he'd just drop it and if he came in person to ask he'd sniff out a lie...it's not going to be that easy to sort out...

William frowns for a moment, then smiles as he takes out his phone and briefly aims it at Nyx, "Interesting... So that's how it works."

He once again puts it back in his pocket without recording or taking a picture, "Technically, you could walk past the camera without being seen, as long as you delete the footage before anyone rewinds it, there wouldn't be any images of you left and the only traces there'd be would be the lack of footage. It's a long shot, but it's a nice backup plan."

Armand observes Neve as she goes through for her objects. He nods and smiles at one idea he has.(Armand) Madame Rosetti, maybe you should talk to Claudia alone first. You both had common acquaintance, through our missing Thomas Durieux.

OOC:

This is just me, ST, preparing to the eventuality that Eric's player might not show up due to life :p So please go with it. I'll try and think of something if he can't make it.

Claudia visibly frowns as well when William pulls his phone and aims. She speaks with great disapproval and shows it with a firm tone.(Claudia) I won't allow it in my haven.

She sighs about Mikael.(Claudia) I'll try to reason with my clan. I can't promise anything, but maybe something good can come out of it.. For.. well, sure, Pierre ca make an alibi, but you tend to cover your own kind, and everyone knows it. I'm afraid it's not a very strong protection. For the rest, I don't really know. I tend to use more.. classical conceiling. Obfuscate was more powerful before pictures could be taken, wasn't it ?

As she speaks of classical conceiling, she idly puts her hands on her own wrists, probably unconsciously hiding her scars.

Duncan turns a wry smile toward Claudia when she warns them about making the Sheriff angry. He responds with sarcasm in his voice.

"Don't accuse the Sheriff of anything without solid proof." Why didn't we think of that? Oh wait... we did. Look, I know we don't want to weaken our defenses here in Bordeaux; and I certainly don't want the Sheriff's job. But there are a few things going on around Lambert that need to be looked into. This isn't the first time I've heard of irregularities in his actions.

The Brujah doesn't elaborate. To Nyx, Duncan replies: If the Sheriff is not there, I doubt any guards or ghouls he leaves behind can see through yours and Fred's... obfuscate. Duncan says the word carefully, obviously not used to saying it aloud. Asking Theo to help draw him out for a while is a good idea; I'll call him in a minute to ask about that.

Also, checking the cameras in that building isn't a shit idea. Even if they don't show Momo, they might show us something about the Sheriff. Hell, they might even show that a third party stuffed Momo into a sack and carried him off. Anything would be helpful at this point. Of course, once you reach the room where the cameras are monitored, you might have to call William or myself to help access them. How good are you with computers?

Before Nyx can answer the last question, Duncan turns to William.You know, we might actually need some kind of external hard drive. The camera recording might be too big for a flash drive. What do you think?

Due to what happened in the RP session, we went ahead and played the rest of the night at Claudia's place. For logics, I'll state that Eric managed to think it wasn't such a good idea to step at Claudia's place at that moment, considering the fact that Neve needed to ease her into accepting a not-so-known Ventrue in her home, and that they'll rather come back first thing early on Sunday Night, aka, the following night. In that case Armand will gladly drive Eric wherever he wants to be, if he needs him to do so, and Armand stated that he was to meed with Franz Derijk in el Bodegon the following night as well, the Brujah hangout-Elysium-bar.

After having discussed a few other matters, Neve rang Claudia's doorbell, which she opened. They talked a little, and the Tremere presented Duncan, Fred, William and Nyx to the Ventrue Harpy. She then went on to perform once more the ritual to contact Lyle Kersten. In the meantime, Miriel arrived and rang, and the neonates opened for her.Claudia came back, surprised about Miri's presence, and extended her Hospitality both to her and to Neve, if she wished to stay during the day. All agreed to stay, and Claudia left them to discuss what they wished to discuss (what to do, inform or not inform Neve...), and took the butter out of the fridge to cook. After their discussion on hugging a nosferatu, Nyx decided to hug Miriel, and William took a picture. While showing it, something stroke him and the others as Neve should have been on the background, but wasn't. It seems she doesn't appear on pictures. That might be useful for when cameras are concerned.Duncan took the opportunity to call Theodore, give him a few news, and ask him if he'd be willing to occupy the Sheriff for a while the next night. Theo agreed to it, and told Duncan that he'd better find something interesting because if they were to get a bit too close, Lambert was likely to find out about their presence. He said Claudia would be willing to explain more on Auspex, as the Sheriff is also a good user. Maybe something about "getting the scent". Theodore suggested that bodies washing on the river couldn't be Lambert's, as he disposes of preys in a far more suited way (something about having contacts with the medical world, at least "if things haven't changed since we used to work together, and Lambert ain't the kind to change his ways"), and redirected that the issues about the foreign, rom and Maghreb women disappearing might be of Marc's doing. He's been trying to discuss things with him and eventually it'll end up working.

Soon after they heard people waking up quite loudly, and quite painfully it seemed. Loic, and two female sweet lolita girls, basically storm out of the corridor. Everyone watched as they sat in the kitchen, and began eating the crepes Claudia had made "for breakfast", as because of daylights savings, it was almost 6:30 AM already. The Tremere was quick to ask the kindred to go back into the living room and let the kine enjoying their morning meal. Eventually, Loic came back to "being awake" and while eating a crepe, he came to greet the kindred, although he only slept a couple of hours, he's as eager and joyful. He teases Claudia about having friends he doesn't know about, then leaves them be.

The Tremere then proceeded to show them a little more of her apartment and each decided where to sleep.

SUNDAY NIGHT.

After waking up, the kindred are quick to hear some fairly loud techno remixes, as Loic had come back and was playing DDR in the living room. So that was the pad black-thingy Nyx had asked about. Claudia was sitting on the table watching him play. She changed back to proper clothing and put on her make up properly.She said that she tried again the ritual during the day, as she forced herself awake, but she said it didn't work. She seemed very reluctant to give more details. Miriel, curious about the DDR, tested it with success, which impressed Loic (even if he'd put it on Easy for her). Claudia drew him out of the living room so that they could discuss the matters without being attentive of kine ears.Claudia said that Neve might be able to help them out at least as far as credibility is concerned, as Neve is a harpy and a Ventrue Elder. Nyx asked the Tremere about a toothbrush, and she said just to take any from the cabinet below the sink in any bathroom. It's clear Claudia is used to housing several people, even if she doesn't house them full time, as shown by the lack of personal objects.

Nyx and Neve talked a little bit in private, as Neve found out the night before that Nyx was the one with the Bracelet that Tarcisus had given to Gosuin. Neve tried to dominate Nyx into giving it to her so she could have it double checked, but for one reason or another, it didn't work.

William ran his hand through his hair, something he was doing the entire evening, his finger seemed to catch on something, and he undid something muttering something that resembled, "bloody 5 bucks..."

He looked intrigued when Nyx came marching down the corridor rather swiftly after her girl on girl conversation with the Ventrue Harpy, giving a short glance at Fred and then once more turned to Duncan.

"Are we ready? I'd rather not by anywhere near you-know-where when the Sheriff returns... Heck I'd rather avoid it all together but it's our only remaining lead."